Michael took a deep breath as he looked at the corpse of the Forgotten he’d just fought. Just like the others, it belonged to a dark elf. The woman’s neck was torn open by what looked like a clear sword wound – it had been her ‘initial’ wound. The hole in her chest had been created by his Mana Missile.


    Michael waved his staff as he finished chanting.


    “Minor Heal.”


    Twin waves of healing mana coursed through him, followed by two more. The cuts on his right shoulder slowly mended, alongside the large gash from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. Skin and muscle crawled over themselves to return his legs to pristine condition. After repeatedly casting Minor Heal, all that remained as traces of the previous battle were his torn clothes.


    He threw one last look at the dead Forgotten.


    It’s getting harder.


    This woman had been stronger than any of the Forgotten he had fought before. It wasn’t in terms of fighting power or Skills alone. She had also been able to sustain more injuries before ‘dying,’ almost to the point of reminding him of a zombie from the movies back on Earth. Was it related to the fact that he was now deeper inside the Consumed Territory?


    Michael looked up at the twisting waves of darkness. Clear Sight’s effect was diminishing rapidly.


    But I can keep going, for now.


    He only needed to play his cards right and stay on his toes.


    Michael continued on. He entered the houses on his way and fought past the Forgotten that found him. Their numbers increased, forcing him to spend more time in each battle. The houses mostly contained more white spheres, but he even managed to find a piece of Equipment in one of the larger ones, a new robe.


    Some time later.


    Michael heaved as he wiped the sweat off his brow. Standing over the corpses of three Forgotten, he looked to the right. The only thing that met his gaze was the hazy outline of a house covered by darkness. Clear Sight’s effectiveness was almost gone.


    I’m in too deep.


    Unless he wanted to end up in the same situation as before, it was time to return to Sullivan. Decisively, he turned around and started running in the direction of the spot he’d originally used to enter the Consumed Territory. Even though he could move faster with Illumination, he didn’t activate it.


    When he’d first entered the Consumed Territory, the Forgotten had quickly found him. However, this time around, they took much longer to locate him and attack. After taking notice of this, he’d done a few experiments. In short, Illumination drew the Forgotten to him like moths to a flame, as if they could sense the Heritage Skill.


    Michael thought to himself as he ran.


    Is it because it’s the Blessing of Light and they’re affected by the Curse of Darkness?


    It was almost ironic for his Blessing to be the opposite of the Curse that affected the Tutorial’s most difficult zone. Had Clyranth been the one to bless him with this in mind? Or were the two things completely unrelated? For now, he had no way to know. Either way, it would be best to avoid using Illumination for now.


    He glanced over his shoulder at the deeper parts of the Consumed Territory.


    …Am I doing the right thing?


    His desire to tackle the Abyss was born out of the need for power that had appeared after realizing his situation. To protect both himself and his loved ones, it was imperative to become as powerful as possible as quickly as possible. He would be hunted by gods, after all. However, the Abyss was a complete unknown that could easily result in his death, even though the rewards for clearing it were also unknown. What if he ended up putting himself into even more risk by clearing it? What if the gods were able to tell if someone cleared the Abyss?


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    There were too many variables and too much at stake. In the worst-case scenario, the Gods of War would be immediately notified and kill both him and his mother. Naturally, this meant that the Dragons’ dreams of revenge would go unfulfilled, but he didn’t really care about that.


    Michael glanced over his shoulder at the increasingly darker depths of the Consumed Territory. He still hadn’t reached the center of one of the consumed Villages, not to mention getting close to the Abyss. What awaited him at the town hall of one of these Villages? He shook his head and continued to run. He would find out soon enough.


    He made his way out of the Consumed Territory. Once he left its range, he could feel his strength returning as the nerf to his stats disappeared. With a grin, Michael ran and leaped over the terrain until he reached Bluestone Village. The familiar dirt roads were somewhat comforting compared to the ones in the Territory.


    Michael reached Tairy’s house after a couple minutes, ignoring the strange looks he got on the way from the other humans and the intense gazes of the dark elves.


    As usual, Tairy was sitting on the stone dais with closed eyes, only to open them as Michael stepped into the yard.


    “I’m back, old man,” Michael said with a grin.


    Tairy’s milky-white eyes didn’t even tremble, but the dark elf moved his head as if he could still see.


    “You don’t look too bad.”


    Michael shrugged.


    “Minor Heal is an effective Skill.”


    Tairy scoffed. He stood up and jumped to the ground.


    “Yeah, right. That excuse doesn’t fly in the Consumed Territory, but we’ve already established how we should treat your secrets. I’m just glad you aren’t one of the Forgotten by now, kid.”


    Michael sent his dark elf master a warm smile.


    “So? Now that you have fought more of them, what do you think?” Tairy asked.


    Michael rubbed his chin.


    “They’re strong. Even if they aren’t as powerful as they were before they were consumed by the Curse, each fight is a challenge. Shit gets dangerous once there are more than two.”


    Tairy silently stared at him for a few seconds, dumbfounded, before rubbing his temples.


    “…Right. Of course. At least you have a new robe now.”


    “Yep. And nothing beats the XP gains of fighting the Forgotten. I’ll go talk to Sullivan and get Clear Sight again.”


    “…And go back in right afterward?”


    Michael nodded.


    “Of course. There’s not much time left in the Tutorial.”


    Tairy let out a deep sigh, waving his hand.


    “Fine. Just don’t get yourself killed and stay out of the Abyss. I’d like to say this discussion isn’t over, but I feel like you won’t listen no matter how many times I say it.”


    Michael swallowed his words and only nodded. He left Tairy’s yard and made his way to the town hall. After standing in line for a while, he entered the building. At the first sight of him, Sullivan kicked out all the other humans within, ignoring their protests. Soon, the dark elves and Michael were the only ones in the room. Michael approached Sullivan, who extended his hands.


    “It’s true that you’re growing,” Sullivan said in a low tone. “But be careful.”


    Michael nodded. Soon, Sullivan pulled his hands away. Michael thanked him and left the building.


    In such a fashion, the days slowly passed. Every day, Michael would go into the Consumed Territory, only to leave once Clear Sight’s effects decreased by too much. On the third day, his friends reached out to him.


    Michael sat on Tairy’s stone dais, a floating mouth made of mana floating above his open hand.


    “Keep it up,” he said. “How are things going with Greenwood?”


    “It’s fine,” James’ voice came out of the floating mouth. “They’re unremarkable, which doesn’t surprise me. We’ve been doing well in the Territory Wars, as I told you.”


    Michael smiled. By coordinating their efforts, Redglow, Bluestone, and Yellowbright had been carefully managing their Territories and their growth. Naturally, this was only happening because Michael had been the one to determine it to be so.


    Michael talked with James for a bit longer to obtain more information about the different Villages’ current state. Of course, he also asked about Allison, even though he would contact her right after. Thankfully, everything seemed to be fine.


    Over his conversations, a single question remained in his mind. Michael dismissed the Whisper spell after talking to his mother and rubbed his chin.


    What do I need to do to acquire part of the Consumed Territory?


    To begin with, part of the reason why he chose to delve into the Consumed Territory was to acquire more Territory for Bluestone without having to steal it from other Villages, out of which almost all were somehow related to him. Still, he had a good guess.


    I might find my answer once I reach the center of one of the consumed Villages.


    Michael stood up and started walking out of the yard, a bit lost in his thoughts. After nodding at Tairy, who was watching him intently, he left Bluestone Village and made his way back into the Consumed Territory.


    He found more of the white light spheres, which decreased the Curse’s effects on him. This, alongside his Leveling speed because of the power of his enemies, meant that his combat abilities were in constant growth. However, this didn’t diminish the difficulty of the Consumed Territory in the least. The deeper he went, the more Forgotten would appear in each group and the stronger each of them was. The closer to the Abyss, the faster Clear Sight wore off.


    Two days later, Michael reached the center of one of the consumed Villages.